Stock futures were slightly higher in early morning trade as major averages recovered from a three-day losing run-on yesterday, with technology stocks leading the way. This bullish sentiment was bolstered by optimistic jobless claims.
The surge in futures came after the Dow gained 186 points and the S&P 500 and Nasdaq composite ended the day 1.06 percent and 1.77 percent higher, respectively, on Wall Street.
Microsoft, Facebook, and Alphabet all gained more than 1%, while Netflix and Apple both gained more than 2%.
Yesterday the Labour Department reported that for the first time, unemployment benefits claim for the week ended May 15 came in at 444,000, the lowest since March 14, 2020. Economic experts surveyed by Dow Jones had been expecting 452,000 new claims however the result showed a better-than-expected outcome.
The stock market rally had a solid advance, finishing near session highs despite backing off intraday peaks slightly in the final minutes. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.55% in Thursday’s stock market trading. The S&P 500 index gained 1.1%. The Nasdaq composite jumped 1.8%. The Russell 2000 advanced 0.6%.
Notwithstanding the stocks rebound, the Dow is down 0.9% in the past week, on track to see its fourth negative week out of the past five weeks. The S&P 500 is 0.4% lower on the week, on pace for its second negative week in a row. The Nasdaq Composite is up 0.8%, positioned to break a 4-week losing streak.
Following a wild session on Wednesday, shares of Tesla and other speculative stocks rebounded as bitcoin prices recovered. Bitcoin, on the other hand, briefly fell as the Treasury Department asked for tighter cryptocurrency compliance with the Internal Revenue Service.
Tech behemoths Facebook (FB) and Alphabet (GOOGL), the parent company of Google, remain among the more appealing tech companies. Apple (AAPL) and Microsoft (MSFT) also had strong increases on Thursday, helping to boost the major indexes, although they haven’t been as influential. Tesla (TSLA) is in a similar boat, as it continues to trade below moving averages.
The stock prices of Facebook and Google both increased by 1.6 percent. Both are now extended from previous breakouts, but on Wednesday, they returned bullishly from their 10-week lines and are still within range bullish momentum.